


Remember The Day

by Why_do_you_want_to_know



Series: Summer's Banned Together Bingo [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alive Mary Winchester, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Animal Shifter Castiel (Supernatural), Animal Shifter Dean Winchester, Banned Together Bingo, Bisexual Dean Winchester, But then a bit of fluff, Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Castiel and Dean Winchester in Love, Chuck Shurley is Castiel's Parent, Closeted Dean Winchester, Comfortably Bisexual Dean Winchester, Coming Out, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dean Winchester Loves Castiel, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Heir Cas, Heir dean, John Isn't even mentioned, Lion Shifter Cas, M/M, Non-Traditional Gender Roles, Requited Love, Wolf Shifter Dean, Women rule Dean's pack, Worried Dean Winchester, a bit of angst, no a/b/o, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25650199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Why_do_you_want_to_know/pseuds/Why_do_you_want_to_know
Summary: Written for the Banned Together Bingo 2020, for the square Strong Women Leaders.*~*Dean is a wolf shifter, expected to mate with a nice girl for the good of his pack. He may be heir, but the pack will be more secure with a woman at it's lead, like there has been for hundreds of years.The only problem?He's in love with Castiel, heir to the neighbouring lion pride and decidedly not female.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, various friendships
Series: Summer's Banned Together Bingo [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1768180
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Remember The Day

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so in this universe everyone is a shifer, people are just different kinds. The different kinds are allowed to mix, but it isn't exactly encouraged. The different groups, (individual packs, prides, whatever) all have different rules, and in Dean's pack they prefer to have women leaders. (imagine old monarchies where men were prioritised over women, and a king always had more power than a Queen, but the other way round and less aggressively sexist) anyway... I think that's all the world building you need to understand this.... hope you enjoy!!

Dean remembered many different days. He remembered the day he first shifted, the day he first saw his wolf form. He remembered the day they made a truce with the neighbouring lion pride. He remembered the day he first met Castiel, the lion’s heir. He remembered the day they became best friends. He remembered the day he realised they could never be more. He remembered the day his life changed forever.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dean sighed as he paced outside Mary’s office. She had arranged a meeting with him and seeing as it was in the middle of business hours, when they were pack leader and pack heir, Dean knew this would be about when he took over the pack. It wouldn’t be for a few hundred years, but he was already being pressured into preparing himself for it.

Dean’s pack of wolf shifters normally had female leaders. Dean’s mother had been the leader, and her mother before her. When Dean was born male, he became the heir, but if Sam had been female it would have passed to him, age didn’t matter. As it was, Sam was male, so Dean - as the oldest son - was still heir, and Mary hadn’t had any more children, so that’s how Dean would stay until he became leader.

Mary had been an amazing leader, leading the pack away from wars and towards peaceful agreements, finding them stable territory to live in and keeping them all safe. She had been a strong leader, and the pack was thriving, new allies helping them, and their numbers growing every year as pups were born and wolf shifters from less good packs found asylum in their pack. She had taught Dean all she knew, ready for when she eventually had to step down and pass the pack onto him.

Except Dean didn’t want to be the leader of his pack.

It wasn’t even that he didn’t want to rule, he’d been groomed for it since his birth and knew he could be a good leader for the pack, just like Mary had been.

It was just that, because in his pack females were seen as stronger - they created life, so their decisions were held in higher regard than males decisions - Dean was being encouraged by the pack to take a wife. His rule wouldn’t be strong enough without a woman by his side.

And by encouraged he meant that every day multiple people would come up to him to ask if he’d found a nice girl yet, and many others would suggest he met their daughters, cousins, nieces.

He turned every single one of them down. He didn’t want a girlfriend, he didn’t want a wife, but he was fairly sure that was what this meeting was about. He just couldn’t explain to anyone why he turned them all down. He always said that he just hadn’t met the right girl yet, but that wasn’t true. He’d been in love with his best friend Cas, the heir of the lion pack, for years, and he was fairly sure that Cas loved him back too. But neither of them had said, nor done, anything about it because of this. Because every day Dean was being pushed into taking a wife. The pack would never allow him to rule with a husband at his side. They wouldn’t be able to have pups, and the pack wouldn’t be able to fully trust their judgement.

And so they came back full circle. Dean was unable to take the mate he wanted due to their gender, and turned away all others because they just didn’t do anything for him.

Sure, he could appreciate that girls were nice. He was a self proclaimed flaming bisexual. But ever since he had met Castiel he was gone on him, no matter how nice the other shifters he was introduced to looked.

“Dean, come in please,” Mary said with a soft smile on her face, gesturing to her son to sit down in a chair and offering him some coffee. Dean declined the coffee, already too jittery to sit still. Coffee would just make it worse.

“You wanted to see me?” Dean said carefully, his eyes fixed on the wall next to his mom’s head so he wouldn’t have to look her in the face. He was scared what he would see there, but worse than that, he was scared what she would see in his eyes if he made eye contact.

“Yes I did,” Mary said, taking a delicate sip from her cup of coffee, “I am aware that you haven’t taken a mate yet,” she started and Dean instantly paled at her words. He knew this was coming, but it didn’t make it any easier. “Now I don’t believe in forcing people into taking mates before they are ready, but I have been informed that you’ve been turning everyone away, not even meeting them first, and I just want to know why.”

Dean dropped his eyes, even looking at the wall felt too close to Mary’s eyes when he was hiding a secret this big. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, turning back on the lie he had been telling for years, “I just haven’t met the right girl yet.”

Mary frowned, the skin around her eyes tightening in displeasure, “except you haven't been meeting any of them,” she pointed out, “so I don’t see how you could know if they were right or not for you.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll try harder in the future,” Dean said, just wanting to get out of there. He wanted - no - he needed to see Cas. Even if he knew he could never be with him, he still wanted to talk about it. Just because neither of them had ever put it into words, didn’t mean neither of them realised that it was right there.

Mary squinted at him for another few minutes before sighing, “I have a meeting with Chuck later today,” she said, “I will require you to be here as my heir when he arrives. Until then you are free to do whatever you want.”

The first real smile since he had been summoned to his mom’s office spread across his face. If Chuck was coming, then Cas would be coming as well. The lions would probably stay the evening for supper, as was customary by now - the pack and the pride were close allies and treated each other more like good friends than business associates - so Dean would definitely be able to find some alone time to talk to Cas in.

“I’ll be there,” Dean promised before he basically threw himself out the room, shifting midway out the door and running back to his room, enjoying the chance to stretch his paws, even if his room was only the other side of the house. Going this fast also helped him avoid anyone trying to set him up, which was always a positive, especially after the conversation he had just had with Mary.

He barrelled into his room, crashing onto his bed and shifting back before he noticed the two people sitting in his armchair, clearly waiting for him.

“What’re you two doing here?” he asked in confusion as he squinted at his younger brother and his mate, signing as he spoke so that Eileen wouldn’t have to rely on Sam to use their link to pass everything on. Dean knew that Eileen could read lips, but Dean always made sure to sign. It was easier for her and he knew that she appreciated it when people went to the extra effort.

“Waiting for you,” Sam answered easily, purposefully avoiding Dean’s question.

“And why were you doing that?” Dean sighed, the knowledge that Sam was only playing dumb only managing to make it even more frustrating.

“We had something to talk to you about,” Eileen grinned and Dean was struck - not for the first time - with the wish that he could just pass the pack leader title on to Sam. He had already mated a female, so the pack would like that, and Dean knew that Sam and Eileen would be able to work together to make the pack even stronger than it already was.

Unfortunately if he passed the title up then he would have to give up his place in the pack - an old tradition which no one had changed yet - and Dean had nowhere else to go. He would just have to find a nice girl who could rule the pack with him.

He just wished he didn’t have to.

“So does everyone and their dog today apparently,” Dean sighed, sitting upright on his bed and turning to face them, “alright, shoot. What do you need?”

“We need you to tell us the truth,” Sam said seriously, his tone causing Dean to sit up even straighter. Sam never sounded serious unless it actually was.”Are you gay?”

Dean choked on his own spit, staring incredulously at the other two. “Why are you even asking?”

“You’ve never even looked interested in one of the females you get introduced to. You always say it’s because you haven’t found the right girl yet, but you don’t even try to look. Like you already know they aren’t going to be right.”

“Wow, two conversations about this in one day, this must be a record,” Dean grumbles. “I’m not gay okay,” he said. When They just looked unconvinced he sighed even louder. “I’m bi okay! I like both. I’m not ignoring all those girls because I’m gay.”

Eileen grinned, “I knew it!” she turned to Sam, pushing him slightly, “didn’t I tell you!”

“Tell him what?”

“You’re not ignoring them because you’re gay, it’s because you already love someone else.”

Dean was unable to hold back the blush which overtook his face. He’d never said it out loud, or heard it said out loud, and it felt weird. Like his deepest, darkest, secret had just been vocalised and now everything would crumble around him. People knew, so the world would end.

Except that didn’t happen.

The walls stayed standing, no one dropped to the ground gasping for breath and dean was still in one piece.

All that happened was that Eileen looked proud of herself, and Sam squinted in confusion.

“They aren’t a girl are they,” Sam murmured, “otherwise you would already be mated.”

Dean looked down, “no, he isn’t.”

The room seemed to go quiet, a new kind of weight settling over them as they all absorbed this new information. Eileen and Sam were probably thinking over what could be done now, but Dean was thinking about Cas. Thinking about the lips he would never get to kiss, the face he would never get to wake up beside, the messy hair he would never get to run his hands through, the large lion form he would never be able to curl up with.

“Is he even a wolf?” Eileen finally asked. When Sam looked at her in confusion she frowned, “I’ve never seen Dean look at anyone, male or female, in the way he just did when he mentioned the person he loved.”

“No, he isn’t,” Dean admitted quietly, his voice little more than a whisper. It felt like if he said it any louder than that, everyone would know, and what kind of a wolf would he be then? Everyone would know that he didn’t want a wife. Everyone would know he was unfit to be the son of such a strong leader.

“Oh Dean,” Sam muttered, looking sad for a moment before seemingly shaking himself back to the conversation. “Alright, does he know?”

“I don’t know? He might do, I think we both know that something is between us, but he knows I’m expected to take a wife so nothing has happened between us.”

“Okay, what is he? I’m assuming he’s still a shifter, but what kind?”

Dean blushed, rubbing the back of his neck as he quietly muttered, “lion.”

“Oh,” Sam gasped, his eyes wide. “I don’t suppose it’s a certain blue eyed heir is it?”

Dean’s blush deepened, “maybe,” he whispered.

Sam and Eileen both seemed to grin happily - or maybe evilly, Dean couldn’t tell. “I have a plan,” Eileen said, “I’ll see you later.” With that she grabbed Sam’s hand and pulled him out the room, not giving Dean any more idea what she was up to.

He wasn’t sure if he should be scared or not, but he very much doubted this would end well.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Welcome Novaks,” Mary greeted with a smile as she opened the door and waved the pride’s leader and heir into the door. Dean stood back a few steps, looking serious like they all always did for approximately five minutes every time there was a visit. He was barely able to hide his smile when he made eye contact with Cas, the lion looked even cuter than he normally did, his oversized trench coat swirling round his legs as he tried to pat his hair down and just ended up making it worse.. Cas’ hair was always a mess, even when he was a lion his mane was a mess, Dean always teased him about how he didn’t know what a brush was.

“Thank you for your invite,” Chuck said with a gentle smile, “It is always lovely to be invited to visit the pack. Now, should we go and talk this over?”

Mary nodded, “yes, lets. Dean, you are free to leave.”

Dean ducked his head in understanding but didn’t move, waiting for Chuck to dismiss Cas so they could leave together.

“Thank you Castiel, I will see you later,” Chuck said with a wave of his hand as he walked into Mary’s office.

Both heirs stood in silence for a moment, waiting for the door to click closed before they smiled at each other, pure joy filling their gazes before they simultaneously shifted and ran as fast as they could into the woods, until they reached the birch tree they spent their time under. It was in a secluded clearing, deep enough into the wood that no one else ever found them.

Cas managed to reach the tree first and was already lounged out in it’s shade by the way Dean crashed into the clearing. Neither one of them said anything - or even attempted to - Dean just trotted over and curled up next to Cas, his snout resting in Cas’ dark mane and their tails wrapped together.

They may never talk about what this was, but that didn’t change the fact that moments like this - though few and far between - filled Dean with the kind of peace he never expected to feel and knew he wouldn’t feel with anyone else.

Cas was it for him, and the fact he would one day have to find someone else hurt him more than words could express.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They must have fallen asleep. Dean didn’t know how they had managed that but the next time he blinked his eyes open there were two more wolves in their clearing, who could clearly see Dean with his snout buried in a very male lion's mane.

Dean was mere moments from running away, probably forever, when he recognised who else was actually there. It showed how scared he had been that it took him that long to recognise Sam and Eileen standing there, looking unbothered by how close he and Cas were to each other.

Suddenly Dean was filled with the same feeling to flee as before, but this time out of embarrassment instead of fear. Sure, those two knew that Dean liked Cas, but it was one thing to know it and a very different thing to find them basically cuddling together, under a fucking tree.

Cas didn’t seem bothered, he had probably noticed the other two instantly and had identified that they weren’t threats before Dean had even woken up. Instead the traitorous bastard just nudged Dean with his head, forcing him into a sitting position before he lay back down. The message was clear, but Dean was still fairly offended that Cas expected him to do this alone.

Dean shifted back, the blush he had been feeling before transferring onto his skin and staining his human face red.

“Hey guys,” he murmured, waiting until both Sam and Eileen had shifted back before saying anything more, “how’d you find us?”

“We followed your footprints,” Sam said with a shrug, “that’s not important. We have some questions to ask Cas.”

Dean looked over at his more-than-a-friend, making eye contact and watching as the lion shrugged, clearly unbothered by wherever this was, and shifted back to his human form.

“Hello Sam, Eileen,” he greeted the wolves, his voice as gravelly as his lion form’s roar, “you wanted to ask me questions?”

“Yes, do you love Dean?” Eileen asked, apparently not planning to beat around the bush. Dean choked on empty air, the question catching him off guard, but Cas didn’t seem phased.

“Yes, I would ask him to be my mate if I didn’t already know that he needs to mate a female for the good of his pack.” There was a pain in his voice that spoke of how difficult the words were to say, and Dean softened slightly into Castiel’s side. He never really thought about how hard this must be for Cas, to have the one you loved so close, yet unable to have them due to a duty they had, nothing to do with you.

“Actually, we might be able to help with that one,” Sam grinned, “If he was your mate he would join your pride right? And help rule by your side?”

“Yes, Gabriel and his mate already have a few cubs, so the title would go to them after me. Because of the definite continuation of the bloodline the pride wouldn’t care that we can’t have children, nor does my pride care about the gender of its rulers.”

“Perfect. That makes this simple then.”

“Makes what simple?” Dean asked in confusion, “What’s going on?”

“Simple,” Sam grinned, “You can mate Cas and rule the pride with him, you can then pass the pack onto me and Eileen because you won’t have to worry about being kicked out, and then we can rule the pack.”

Dean gasped, “Would you all be okay with that?” he asked, waiting until everyone else agreed, Cas looking like he thought Dean was stupid or even suggesting he wouldn’t be okay with it, before he continued, “well in that case you’re right, it is perfect.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hundreds of years passed, the Winchester pack continued to grow and strengthen, the pack happy under the rule of Eileen and Sam, while the Novak pride also flourished under Dean and Cas’ care. No one seemed bothered that one of the rulers was a wolf, in fact it was treated as a linking of the pack and the pride, creating a friendship between the two which would outlive everyone involved and their legacies.

Dean was happy. He finally had everything he had ever wanted. He had a lion husband who he loved with all his heart, a supportive family who loved him, the cutest nieces and nephews ever, it felt like a dream to be honest. And each morning, when Dean woke up with a face full of dark hair, he would wonder if this was truly his life.

And then he would smile.

Because he knew it actually was.

He remembered many days, but the day when his life changed, when he finally realised that he could be with Cas in the way he wanted, that was definitely one of the best. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again!! I hope you liked it!!  
> Kudos and comments give me life!!  
> Have an awesome week!!


End file.
